Open House #1

On Saturday, April 25th the City of Healdsburg held a ‘drop in’ open house to share plans and evolving concept studies for the Roundabout to be constructed at Mill Street and Healdsburg Avenue (the five way intersection).

For over 3 hours, approximately 35 people wandered through 206 Healdsburg Avenue, a vacant storefront with the perfect vantage point to gaze out the window at the current conditions. Many of the attendees had not been to any of the prior three community workshops, and appeared to like what they saw.

Set up in three stations, attendees had an opportunity to see a table-top scaled plan of the current design. With the aid of scale trucks, cars and even the new SMART train locomotive, GHD’s Principal Engineer, Frank Penry, P.E. provided a hands-on demonstration of how vehicles will move through the roundabout, and how pedestrian safety is improved using modern roundabout layout.

Concurrently, David Gates, the project’s landscape architect offered attendees a view of imagery for the character and material choices of the project’s most visible part – the sidewalks, the landscape treatment and the center of the roundabout itself.

Following this meeting, the consultant team will continue to refine the project’s design in preparation for the final community meeting which will include a presentation of the preferred design. After that session, final comments will be addressed by the team as they complete the concept design phase. At that point the project will go to the City Council for authorization to proceed into construction documents for the initial phase of construction.

What’s Happening Now?

HAPPENING NOW:
- Sidewalks are getting installed for pedestrian access; this includes between Vine and Healdsburg Ave (a sidewalk route that never previously existed for the City), plus the rail trail now connects to Mill Street East. In the coming weeks, sidewalks on South Healdsburg Avenue to Singletree will also be installed.

- A subcontractor will start to install the irrigation system and top soil in several areas around the roundabout to prep for greenery planting.

- East Mill Street is now open to eastbound to vehicular traffic.

- Railwork installation was completed by mid-March 2018. All of the lines, tracks, ties, and other work is now laid within and outside the circle. This is a huge milestone.

LOOKING AHEAD:
- In May, a subcontractor will place lithocrete, an architectural concrete with embedded recycled materials, on South Healdsburg Avenue. This along with cobbles placed in the center circle will be used to delineate the flow and direction of Foss Creek. This decorative cobble feature is also porous, which will help cut the amount of storm water run-off.